LA County Students Win Big at Intel ISEF 2013
Link to slideshow of the event
Our own David Zimmerman, 18, from the Brentwood School in Los Angeles won FOUR top awards at this year’s Intel ISEF at Phoenix, AZ. David is also the Sr. Sweepstakes winner at the 2013 Los Angeles County Science Fair, the Fair’s top award. David’s project, Site-directed Mutagenesis of the Metal-reducing Bacterium S. oneidensis MR-1: A Novel Strategy for Genetic Engineering in Recalcitrant Microorganisms, first won $2,500 from the American Society for Microbiology.
Founded in 1899, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is the largest single life science membership organization in the world. Members worldwide represent 26 disciplines of microbiological specializations plus a division for microbiology educators. The ASM awards honor the most outstanding microbiology projects.
Next, David won 1st in Microbiology, a $3,000 award. In addition, David won Best in Category (Life Science) and received an additional $5,000. The Intel Foundation also awarded a $1,000 grant to the Los Angeles County Science Fair as the affiliated fair that David was representing.
Finally, David won the Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award, and all-expense-paid trip awarded to three finalists to attend the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SIYSS) (www.fuf.org/siyss/), which includes attendance at the Nobel Prize ceremonies, in Stockholm, Sweden in December. The Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award is a multi-disciplinary seminar highlighting some of the most remarkable achievements by young scientists from around the world. The students have the opportunity to visit scientific institutes, attend the Nobel lectures and press conferences, learn more about Sweden and experience the extravagance of the Nobel festivities.
That’s a trip of a lifetime for his outstanding research and a total of $10,500 to help to pay his way through Standford University. Many congratulations on your difficult and important work, David!!
Easun Arunachalam, a 16 year old Senior at Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, won 2nd place and $1,500 in the Medical & Health Sciences category for his project is entitled: “An Examination of Quorum Sensing Mechanisms in Glioblastoma Multiforme.” Easun’s win was particularly impressive since his category is one of the largest categories at ISEF. Easun’s work on the most common and deadliest of malignant brain tumors in adults has implications on tumor growth. Easun will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall.
Change settings on “cog” icon below to 480 p for best viewing
Easun, we congratulate you on your excellent achievement!
As 1st or 2nd place Category award winners at Intel ISEF, both students’ names will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for naming of a minor planet. All minor planets in the Ceres Connection have been discovered by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program, operated by MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, who partnered with SSP and the Intel ISEF to promote science education.
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The Los Angeles County Science Fair provides a yearly setting for middle and high school students to show off their investigative skills and creativity to compete for medals, special awards and scholarships. Students not only receive recognition for their projects but the Science Fair nurtures student interest in various scientific and engineering fields.
Download Important Dates & Deadlines 2012-2013
In September, the 2013 Science Fair Bulletin with information and deadlines are sent to every public and private middle and high school in Los Angeles County. This information is also posted on our website. Science instructors/site coordinators are given all the necessary information about
- how to register for the Science Fair
- School Participation Fee
- project categories
- information about the judging process and
- rules of projects involving human subjects, vertebrate animals, tissue and hazardous materials.
The Science Fair Committee also presents several teacher-training workshops for both new and experienced teachers. Workshop participants can learn about Science Fair procedures, rules and regulations and have questions answered by experienced Science Fair staff. A CD with PowerPoints for in-class presentation and resources for experimentation and displays is also given to each workshop participant. These PowerPoints are also available for download on our Students/Project Resources subpage.
From October to March, reminders about upcoming Science Fair deadlines are sent out via e-mail and website posts for all schools registered with the Los Angeles County Science Fair.
The Science Fair Committee holds a Pre-Approval for Projects screening session for projects involving human subjects, vertebrate animals, tissue or hazardous materials to make certain that these particular projects comply with Los Angeles County Science Fair rules and regulations and the California Education Code. If a project is missing information from the submitted paperwork, the student is given an opportunity to revise the project/paperwork and resubmit for approval and participation in the Science Fair.
Once Science Fair projects are underway at the participating schools, Science Fair coordinators are available to teachers, parents and students to answer any questions that might arise (click on the pull-down menu for additional support pages.)
